Biden: Raising minimum wage ‘good for business’

WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Joe Biden says many restaurant owners support raising the tipped minimum wage for their workers because “it's good for business overall.”

Biden stopped by the Florida Avenue Grill in Washington on Wednesday to make the case for increasing the federal minimum wage.

The federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 an hour and Democrats want to boost it to $4.90 by 2016. Biden noted that the diner's owner recently raised wages for tipped workers on his own by more than $1.

The White House released a report advocating for boosting the minimum wage to $10.10 and increasing tipped wages, arguing that it would help women and families.

Biden says when the minimum wage or the tipped minimum wage is increased, “all that money comes back into the economy.”